Connect with us

Published

on

Sex tapes are alleged to have been taken of Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Sir Richard Branson by Jeffrey Epstein, court documents have revealed.

Sarah Ransome, who says she was a victim of Epstein, wrote in emails to a reporter in 2016 outlining claims the Duke of York, the ex-US president and the billionaire businessman were filmed having sex with her unnamed friend on separate occasions by the paedophile US financier.

A firm representing Epstein’s lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, highlighted the allegations to demonstrate Ms Ransome “manifestly lacks credibility”.

The claims were included in hundreds of documents that a US judge has ordered to be unsealed as part of a civil claim by Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, which was filed in 2015 and settled in 2017.

Despite the defamation case being concluded seven years ago, the Miami Herald successfully fought to make the names and documents associated with it public.

Sarah Ransome arrives for the sentencing of Ghislaine Maxwell in New York in June 2022
Image:
Sarah Ransome arrives for the sentencing of Ghislaine Maxwell in New York in June 2022

Andrew has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Ms Ransome gave a victim impact statement ahead of Epstein’s former girlfriend and long-time associate Maxwell being sentenced for sex trafficking in 2022.

A New Yorker article, released in 2019, reported Ms Ransome admitted “she had invented the tapes to draw attention to Epstein’s behaviour, and to make him believe that she had ‘evidence that would come out if he harmed me'”.

On behalf of Sir Richard Branson, a Virgin Group spokeswoman said: “In a New Yorker report published in 2019, Ransome admitted that she had ‘invented’ the tapes. We can confirm that Sarah Ransome’s claims are baseless and unfounded.”

Mr Clinton’s representatives have not commented after being approached by Sky News.

Read more:
Prince Andrew had ‘daily massages’ when visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s estate
No police investigation after Andrew among scores named in Epstein court papers
Epstein court documents reveal how at ease sex offender was with high-powered associates

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, poses for a photograph on board of his new cruise liner, the Scarlet Lady at Dover Port in Dover, Britain, February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Simon Dawson
Image:
Sir Richard Branson

Among the 2016 documents, Ms Ransome wrote in emails: “When my friend had sexual intercourse with Clinton, Prince Andrew and Richard Branson, sex tapes were in fact filmed on each separate occasion by Jeffrey.

“Thank God she managed to get a hold of some footage of the filmed sex tapes, which clearly identify the faces of Clinton, Prince Andrew and Branson having sexual intercourse with her.

“Frustratingly enough Epstein was not seen in any of the footage but he was clever like that!

“When my friend eventually had the courage to speak out and went to the police in 2008 to report what had happened, nothing was done and she was utterly humiliated by the police department where she went to report what had happened with Epstein, Clinton, Branson and Prince Andrew.”

Former US president Bill Clinton
Image:
Former US president Bill Clinton

Ms Ransome also alleged in the email extracts that former US president Donald Trump had sexual relations with “many girls”.

“I also know she [a friend of Ms Ransome] had sexual relations with Trump at Jeffrey’s NY mansion on regular occasions,” the alleged Epstein victim wrote.

Ms Ransome was involved in the Giuffre defamation case against Maxwell as a witness and she provided photographs showing Epstein, Maxwell, herself and other young women on Epstein’s private island, Little St James, in the US Virgin Islands.

Women on Little St James island in 2006. Court pic
Image:
Young women on Little St James island in 2006. Court pic

Sarah Ransome on Little St James island in 2006. Court pic
Image:
Sarah Ransome on the island in 2006. Court pic

Some of the images from 2006 have now been made public after the documents were unsealed on Monday.

Jeffrey Epstein on Little St James island in 2006. Court pic
Image:
Jeffrey Epstein on the island in 2006. Court pic

Ghislaine Maxwell on Little St James island in 2006. Court pic
Image:
Ghislaine Maxwell on the island in 2006. Court pic

The duke stepped down from public life and no longer uses his HRH title after the controversy over his friendship with Epstein.

The prince paid millions of pounds to settle a civil case with Ms Giuffre, who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. He claimed he never met Ms Giuffre.

Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell, pictured in a photo believed to have been taken in 2001. Pic: Rex/Shutterstock
Image:
Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell, pictured in a photo believed to have been taken in 2001. Pic: Rex/Shutterstock

She alleged Andrew sexually attacked her in a bath in Maxwell’s London home. But newly unsealed legal documents claim the bath was “too small for a man of Prince Andrew’s size to enjoy a bath in let alone sex”.

Maxwell’s solicitor Philip Barden said in his 2017 deposition, unsealed on Monday: “She [Ms Giuffre] claimed she did have sex with Prince Andrew and that the sex occurred in what can only be described as a very small bathtub, too small for a man of Prince Andrew’s size to enjoy a bath in let alone sex.”

In New York in June 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls, in what a judge called a “horrific scheme” that inflicted “incalculable” harm on victims.

Maxwell has been detained since July 2020 despite attempts by her defence lawyers to get her released on bail. Her appeal is scheduled to be heard in November.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Continue Reading

World

Body pulled from mine after police cut off supplies to ‘smoke out’ thousands of illegal miners

Published

on

By

Body pulled from mine after police cut off supplies to 'smoke out' thousands of illegal miners

A body has been recovered from a South African mine after police cut off basic supplies in an effort to force around 4,000 illegal miners to resurface.

The body has emerged from the closed gold mine in the northwest town of Stilfontein a day after South Africa’s government said it would not help the illegal miners.

Around 20 people have surfaced from the mineshaft this week as police wait nearby to arrest all those appearing from underground.

It comes a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to “smoke them [the miners] out”.

The move is part of the police’s “Close the Hole” operation, whereby officers cut off supplies of food, water and other basic necessities to get those who have entered illegally to come out.

Local reports suggest the supply routes were cut off at the mine around two months ago, with relatives of the miners seen in the area as the stand-off continues.

Relatives of miners and community members wait at the 
 mine shaft. 
Pic: AP
Image:
Relatives of miners and community members wait at the mine shaft. Pic: AP

A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, with pathologists on the scene, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said.

It comes after South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not send any help to the illegal miners, known in the country as zama zamas, because they are involved in a criminal act.

“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be prosecuted. We didn’t send them there,” Ms Ntshavheni said.

An aerial view of a mine shaft where an estimated 4000 illegal miners are refusing to leave in Stilfontein, South Africa,.
Pic: AP
Image:
An aerial view of a mineshaft. Pic: AP

Senior police and defence officials are expected to visit the area on Friday to “reinforce the government’s commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion”, according to a media advisory from the police.

In the last few weeks, over 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in South Africa’s North West province, where police have cut off supplies.

Many of the miners were reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.

Illegal mining remains common in South Africa’s old gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.

Read more world news:
Argentina walks out of COP29 climate summit
How Ukraine is downing Russian drones
Video of Israeli hostage released by terror group

Relatives of miners and community members wait at a mine shaft where the estimated 4000 illegal miners  are refusing to leave.
Pic: AP
Image:
Relatives of miners and community members wait near the mine shaft. Pic: AP

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

The illegal miners are often from neighbouring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.

Their presence in closed mines has also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.

Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations.

Continue Reading

World

Ukrainian frontline commander warns: ‘The world is scared of Russia and losing is not only our problem’

Published

on

By

Ukrainian frontline commander warns: 'The world is scared of Russia and losing is not only our problem'

In the courtyard of a farmhouse now home to soldiers of the Ukrainian army’s 47th mechanised brigade, I’m introduced to a weary-looking unit by their commander Captain Oleksandr “Sasha” Shyrshyn.

We are about 10km from the border with Russia, and beyond it lies the Kursk region Ukraine invaded in the summer – and where this battalion is now fighting.

The 47th is a crack fighting assault unit.

They’ve been brought to this area from the fierce battles in the country’s eastern Donbas region to bolster Ukrainian forces already here.

War latest: Russia ready to carry out ‘massive attack’

The captain known by his men as 'Genius'
Image:
The captain known by his men as ‘Genius’

In the summer, Ukraine launched an incursion into Russian territory, in Kursk
Image:
In the summer, Ukraine launched an incursion into Russian territory, in Kursk

Captain Shyrshyn explains that among the many shortages the military has to deal with, the lack of infantry is becoming a critical problem.

Sasha is just 30 years old, but he is worldly-wise. He used to run an organisation helping children in the country’s east before donning his uniform and going to war.

He is famous in Ukraine and is regarded as one of the country’s top field commanders, who isn’t afraid to express his views on the war and how it’s being waged.

His nom de guerre is ‘Genius’, a nickname given to him by his men.

Captain Sasha Shyrshyn and Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay
Image:
Captain Sasha Shyrshyn and Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay

‘Don’t worry, it’s not a minefield’

Sasha invited me to see one of the American Bradley fighting vehicles his unit uses.

We walk down a muddy lane before he says it’s best to go cross-country.

“We can go that way, don’t worry it’s not a minefield,” he jokes.

He leads us across a muddy field and into a forest where the vehicle is hidden from Russian surveillance drones that try to hunt both American vehicles and commanders.

Sasha shows me a picture of the house they had been staying in only days before – it was now completely destroyed after a missile strike.

Fortunately, neither he, nor any of his men, were there at the time.

“They target commanders,” he says with a smirk.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

‘The world is scared of Russia’

It takes me a moment or two to realise we are only a few steps away from the Bradley, dug in and well hidden beneath the trees.

The disguised American Bradley vehicle hidden in the forest
Image:
The disguised American Bradley vehicle hidden in the forest

Sasha tells me the Bradley is the finest vehicle he has ever used.

A vehicle so good, he says, it’s keeping the Ukrainian army going in the face of Russia’s overwhelming numbers of soldiers.

He explains: “Almost all our work on the battlefield is cooperation infantry with the Bradley. So we use it for evacuations, for moving people from one place to another, as well as for fire-covering.

“This vehicle is very safe and has very good characteristics.”

The American Bradley fighting vehicle that Ukrainian soldiers have found vital in their efforts
Image:
The American Bradley fighting vehicle that Ukrainian soldiers have found vital in their efforts

Billions of dollars in military aid has been given to Ukraine by the United States, and this vehicle is one of the most valuable assets the US has provided.

Ukraine is running low on men to fight, and the weaponry it has is not enough, especially if it can’t fire long-range missiles into Russia itself – which it is currently not allowed to do.

If President-elect Donald Trump cuts the supply of military aid, the Ukrainians will lose – it’s that simple.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Image:
US President-elect Donald Trump has been clear he intends to change his nation’s policy on the war in Ukraine. Pic: Reuters

Sasha says: “We have a lack of weapons, we have a lack of artillery, we have a lack of infantry, and as the world doesn’t care about justice, and they don’t want to finish the war by our win, they are afraid of Russia.

“I’m sorry but they’re scared, they’re scared, and it’s not the right way.”

Like pretty much everyone in Ukraine, Sasha is waiting to see what the US election result will mean for his country.

He is sceptical about a deal with Russia.

“Our enemy only understands the language of power. And you cannot finish the war in 24 hours, or during the year without hard decisions, without a fight, so it’s impossible. It’s just talking without results,” he tells me.

Read more from Stuart Ramsay:
How Ukrainian units are downing Russia’s drones
Heartbreaking final moments of girl who tried to flee Gaza
Inside a brutal and deadly Mexican gang war

‘Losing will be not only our problem’

These men expect the fierce battles inside Kursk to intensify in the coming days.

Indeed, alongside the main supply route into Kursk, workers are already building new defensive positions – unfurling miles of razor wire and digging bunkers for the Ukrainian army if it finds itself in retreat.

Barbed wire rolled out in the Sumy region ahead of expected fighting
Image:
Barbed wire rolled out in the Sumy region ahead of expected fighting

Tank traps in the Sumy region
Image:
Tank traps in the Sumy region

Sasha and his men are realistic about support fatigue from the outside world but will keep fighting to the last if they have to.

“I understand this is only our problem, it’s only our issue, and we have to fight this battle, like we have to defend ourselves, it’s our responsibility,” Sasha said.

But he points out everyone should realise just how critical this moment in time is.

“If we look at it widely, we have to understand that us losing will be not only our problem, but it will be for all the world.”

Stuart Ramsay reports from northeastern Ukraine with camera operator Toby Nash, and producers Dominique Van Heerden, Azad Safarov, and Nick Davenport.

Continue Reading

World

Spain flooding: New weather warnings issued – as country counts flooding cost

Published

on

By

Spain flooding: New weather warnings issued - as country counts flooding cost

A weather warning has been issued for parts of Spain, as the country counts the cost of recent flooding.

The orange warnings are in place for parts of southwestern Spain – the area around Seville down towards Gibraltar.

Up to 8cm (3ins) of rain could fall within 12 hours, but the weekend looks much more settled in the country.

The latest warnings come just two weeks after flash flooding in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 200 people.

Malaga saw 14.2cm (5.6ins) of rainfall on Wednesday – Spain’s highest of the day – most of which fell in six hours.

All train services were halted in Malaga. Some flights have now resumed after the initial disruption.

Floods in central Malaga, Spain. Pic: Jamie Marchant
Image:
Pic: Jamie Marchant

Emergency services in the province have moved 3,000 people from homes at risk of flooding close to the Guadalhorce River in the west of the city.

Jamie Marchant, 29, from Caerphilly in South Wales travelled to Malaga last Wednesday.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

He told Sky News that “debris” had been left behind by the recent rainfall in the region.

“Everyone is pitching in to clean up and some shops are opening as usual,” he added.

Orange warnings for the Valencia region in eastern Spain expired earlier on Thursday.

Read more from Sky News:
Call for dog-free areas to tackle racism
Argentina walks out of COP29 summit

The adverse weather could lead to total insured losses of more than €4bn (£3.33bn), according to credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS.

Much of the claims are expected to be covered by the Spanish government’s insurance pool, the agency said, but insurance premiums are likely to increase.

Continue Reading

Trending